Before I delve into this post, let me apologize for not blogging for nearly a month.
There are several good reasons for that, mostly the fact that October was insanely busy, with a big yard sale and Halloween party to plan for and host, and losing about ten days to a nasty stomach virus that coursed through the family. I haven’t had time to write my regular column for the paper, either. It’s just been a crazy season of life.
However, I do plan to submit a column this week and when I do, I’ll share it here.
But tonight I’m writing because I’m really bothered by the outcome of this presidential election. I was so hopeful and happy when I went to the polls. I thought that with his track record of proven leadership and strength, Romney would be just the man we needed to get our country back on track.
But…no. Didn’t happen. I heard someone say that it’s because the “have-nots” now outnumber the “haves”, and liked Obama’s promise to take more from the “haves” and redistribute it to the “haven’ts”.
I think there’s some truth in that. Obamaphone, anyone?
I saw others comment on Facebook that they’re happiest that he won because of the continued “benefits” of Obamacare.
I already wrote a three-part column series sharing my thoughts on socialized medicine. I don’t have the energy to dive into that mess again.
You know, I understood when Obama was elected in 2008. I wasn’t happy about it, because to me, he was so totally devoid of leadership experience that electing him felt like giving my 10-year-old the keys to the car and trusting him to drive the family cross-country. But I understood the excitement over electing the first bi-racial president. I understood that some people were weary of the Bush administration. In a lot of ways, it made sense for people to vote for a major change.
But I’m struggling to make sense of the fact that so many signed up for four more years of what he’s given us.
Just a few of the big issues for me: Record unemployment. The economy. His hostility toward Israel. The Benghazi lies and coverup. Accepting donations from groups with ties to radical Islam. His entire countenance comes across to me as embarrassingly arrogant and amateurish. There isn’t one drop of the humility and benevolence one hopes to see exhibited by a true leader.
I wanted to be able to be proud of him. I remember writing something about that in 2008; that I hoped my gut feelings about him were wrong and that he’d serve us well. But that hope is totally gone today. I look back on the past four years, and now that I know what’s on the menu, hoping for anything good is like going back to a low-budget buffet and expecting to see a perfectly-grilled filet mignon waiting for me under the warming lights.
It just ain’t gonna happen.
I let the older boys stay up tonight for two reasons. One, so they could find out who won the election. And two, because Halo 4 came out today and I wanted to reward them with a bit of extra time to play.
As I went in to tell them goodnight and pray with them, their moods were subdued. My eldest wanted an explanation of the electoral college and how Obama could already be declared the winner if all the votes hadn’t been counted yet. I told him we’d discuss it in depth tomorrow, but for now, we just needed to pray. That even if we don’t like the outcome of the election, even if we don’t think Obama is a man of good character, we still have a God-given responsibility to pray for those in leadership over us.
So, we did.
After, my sweet middle child said, “You know, Mom, when something doesn’t go the way we want it to, we need to just look for the good inside it and focus on that instead.”
I love that he said that.
“You’re absolutely right, Eli. We need to do that for sure.”
“OK,” he replied. “Let’s think of something good.”
And the sound of crickets chirping filled the room. I could not think of a single thing to say. Neither could the boys.
“Well,” I said, “maybe tomorrow, when we’ve had time to think, we can come up with some good things to focus on.”
But now, several hours later, only one thing has come to mind: our liberal friends are happy.
No, I just thought of another good thing: Obama can’t be elected again.
And on that note, my friends, I am going to bed.